Dogs Life Down Under » Traveling with your dog in NSW

Readhead Beach – PAWESOME!

Master Teal'c — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:37:42 +0000

Ohhh - bring it on!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Readhead Beach which is approximately a 2h 15min drive from Sydney. We found the place on Honey the Great Dane’s blog last month and my hooman loved the idea of endless sand. Then a week before we actually went there we bumped into a guy from Newcastle in the park. He was down in Sydney to visit friends with his doggy. He told my hooman that Redhead is incredible and you can walk for nine miles on the beach and as further you get as less people you meet. Hehe – that sounded like our kind of beach!

On Saturday we picked up my persons friend Caroline and started our drive up the coast. Boring, boring, boring… As driving usually is. Normally I just jump in the car and go to sleep straight away waiting for the engine to stop making noises. My sign, we are there!!!!

We got there and it was a glorious Australian winters day. Sunshine and maybe 20 degrees. LOVELY! First thing we did when we got out of the car: studying the signs. No cars, no motor bikes, no horses, no tents, no litter, no fire, no golf?!?!?!, no alcohol but dogs on leash allowed!!!!! That might have just been valid for the public reserve and not for the beach but you never know. My person did some internet research before we got there and it said that dogs must be on the leash at the beach… Don’t care, want walkies. So of we went. It was really exciting. Honey said she didn’t like the surf but I love it. So much fun running into the waves. My person had me on the leash for maybe 3 minutes and decided then after looking up and down the beach and seeing no one to let me off!

We asked a few locals we met during the day how strict they rangers are and all of them said as long as you have a leash with you and your dog under control then it doesn’t matter.

My hooman also lost her driving licence that day. “lost” as in “lost and found” not sure why it is the same word… She dropped it on the beach while taking her phone-camera-thingy out of her pocket. She decided not to get upset about it as there is nothing she can do about it anyway. Guess what? She got it back! A lovely lady posted it to us. Unfortunately without mention her address and the internet didn’t come back with anything useful after we googled her name
But maybe she is reading my blog???? My person would like to say thank you to the lovely lady who found her drivers licence at Redhead Beach on Saturday and sent it back to us without mentioning her address!!!! Libby M. you saved me money and a lot of hassle… THANKS!!!!

Holiday, vino and good food at Rydal Cottage

Master Teal'c — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:40:18 +0000

Seafood goodness

Tealc’s hooman here…
I just wanted to add to Tealc’s last post about our holiday at Rydal Cottage that the cottage deserves 10 out of 10 points! It is a place where you can relax and forget that you have to go back to the big city at some point.

It is beautifully presented and the owner, even if we haven’t met her in person, is very nice. MY HUSBAND left my favourite pillow (yes, I can’t sleep without it) at the cottage and she suggested to bring it back to Sydney next week. So all good on the pillow front and I have learned my lesson: Hubby is no good in double checking that we haven’t forgotten anything at all. You might say that I should have known better…

While Teal’c spend the week running after his ball and eating bones we spend the week enjoying lovely food and lot’s of vino and hope that no one counted the wine bottles in the recycle bin…

PS from Teal’c: not sure why my hooman has to write about hooman food here?!?!? I told her it was far more important to write about out trip to the BEACH!!!!

Dog friendly beach near Wollongong

Master Teal'c — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:03:53 +0000

A glorious day.

Sunday was my dads last day DownUnder before he headed off to Singapore again and my hoomans thought it would be nice to take me and themselves to the beach. It is still winter over here but that doesn’t mean it is actually cold near the coast. We went down south to a beach close to Wollongong my mum discovered a while ago when she was driving around the area with me and my grandmother.
We couldn’t really find a name for the beach but if you put “Bellambi Recreation Area” into google maps it is the beach right there. Well and as the whole place is called Bellambi let’s just say it is Bellambi beach. It is off leash all year round up until the first lagoon you can see on google. There is plenty of fee parking by the little fishing harbour at the north end of the beach. We have been told by a local that we must be on a leash there and that the authority is very strict when you break the rules… That is fine with me, 5min on the leash for 2h beach goodness is certainly something I can deal with. Oh, and doggies must stay out of the green stuff that grows by the beach because birds breed there. Fine with me too – who needs spiky bushed when you can enjoy the surf!!!!!

PS: from my hooman: it is a 1h 13minute drive (according to my GPS) from Sydney CBD up Paramatta Road towards Wollongong.

Holiday in Rydal, Blue Mountains

Master Teal'c — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:03:33 +0000

Rydal Cottage

Hi my friends! I have just come back from a holiday in the Blue Mountains. You know, I just felt I needed some off time from the big city rush and my hoomans agreed. Am I a lucky dog or what? We went back to Rydal Cottage, a place we have been before, but that was during the time my mum couldn’t be bothered to help me with my blog thats why I couldn’t write about it last time.

RYDAL is approximately 2.5 hours car drive away from Sydney, a lovely little village surrounded by nothing but beautiful countryside. We stayed in “Rydal Cottage” a newly renovated cottage situated in a huge property and the best thing of course is that doggies are allowed!!! (For more information see: stayz.com.au)

I had a blast there! Running around the garden, long walks in the bush, a bone a day!!! and my dad bought me a new ball! Now for me that is much better than a bone. I know, most of you will think I’m crazy and maybe I am but I just LOOOOOVE balls so much…

More Culburra Beach pictures!

Master Teal'c — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:36:22 +0000

My mum is soooooo busy at the moment that she thought “the easy way out” would be to post a few more pictures from out trip down south. We have an article about out holiday-foodables lined up as some of my friends have asked how I stay on a raw diet while being away from home. But articles like that always take a lot longer then posts with happy pictures So here you go! Culburra, dog-friendly beach goodness and some really bad rain!

PS: I’m all happy and healthy again and allowed to play with my friends!!! YEAH!

Culburra Beach Holiday: DAY 1

Master Teal'c — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 08:17:04 +0000

Hello everyone! I’m back from my holiday at Culburra Beach.

Culburra Beach, commonly referred to as Culburra, is in the Shoalhaven region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 18 km east-southeast of Nowra on the South Coast. From the 2006 Census of Population and Housing, the town has a population of 2,910 and is the regional centre for the coastal villages of Currarong, Callala Beach, Callala Bay and Orient Point.

Well, we had the feeling that from those 2,910 hoomans only 100 were there at the time. It was awesome! We had all the beaches just to us. I was really happy that I was allowed to take Max – otherwise there would have been no one to play with except from my hoomans and I’m quite sure they wouldn’t have gone into the water with me… Culburra beach and I would go so far to say the whole region is very, very dogfriendly. You can take your dogs to lot’s of beaches and the area is surrounded by state forest. There are signs that we are only allowed on the beaches from 4PM to 8AM but my hoomans ignored that because there was no one else around. We decided that is sounds more like a high season rule and to be honest – in the Australian summer you don’t want to take your dog outside the house during the day anyway.

Enough writing for today, let’s get started with the pictures. My hoomans took so many that it was difficult to choose which ones to publish. So we decided to do it day by day…

DAY ONE:

Big-City-Dogs on a beach holiday

Master Teal'c — Mon, 31 May 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Hi guys, just wanted to quickly say hello before I go to the beach for walkies Me and my big friend Max are on a holiday down south. Well – my hoomans are with us too because apparently we need some supervising as we are too young to get the fireplace going. No hands, no fire…

We are at Culburra beach again, a place me and my hoomans have been before and which is very dog-friendly…

For our Australian readers – nope, we haven’t been washed away. The rain hasn’t hit the area we are in as hard as the rest of the NSW South Coast. Lucky us! However, let’s not count the chicken before the hatch and have turned into yummy chicken-wings!

Anyway – off for walks now. Will write more later.
Slobbers Master T.

Fine For Unrestrained Dogs In Cars in NSW

Master Teal'c — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:47:35 +0000

The other day we went to our P-E-T store which is always worth a trip! So many toys!!! Squeaky toys, fluffy toys, balls ahhhhh… Ok – back to the topic!

There my mom saw it. A big sign right next to a point of sale for doggy-seatbelts: 3 Demerit Points + $400 Fine For Unrestrained Dogs In Cars in NSW I dunno much about points and things but my mom nearly went into shock. Sure you can buy lot’s of toys for 400 bucks though! Anyway – before she got into buying a seat belt thingy for me she decided to do some research into what is the best solution for dogs and whether the whole thing was true or just a clever advertising idea from the company…

My hooman couldn’t find the actual wording of the law but lot’s of discussions about it.

From what we understand there they are two things you have to pay attention to:

1. No animals are allowed on drivers lap whilst driving

2: No unrestrained animals on the back of vehicles like utes

Road Users Regulations outline driver’s responsibilities to prevent accident or injury (albeit general) e.g. NSW RTA ROAD RULES- “Animals should be seated or housed in appropriate areas. A driver must not drive with an animal in the driver’s lap”.

Now with those 2 rules we totally agree!!! I mean who in their right mind has a dog on his or her lap or running around while driving on the back of a ute?! OK – we have seen both … My mom got stressed when she saw the poster at the pet store because I don’t wear a seat belt but I’m usually sitting in the passengers feet area (is that what it is called!?) because that’s where I can enjoy the aircon the most. Or I’m on the backseat. Generally my mom thinks it is a great idea to make us wearing seat-belts and she regrets that she hasn’t trained me to wear one from the beginning. Maybe it is time to start now… Nevertheless – the poster from the doggie-seat-belt-company seems to be a bit misleading… OR DID WE MISS SOMETHING?!

Here is a nice comon sense article about the topic:

Did you know that your pet could be a killer in the car? And I don’t mean just from biting or scratching in protest of being taken to the vet! Unrestrained animals catapulting through the car towards the driver with sudden braking is a real danger despite the comical images it may conjure up.

That's when I was little! Wearing a seat belt!

Doggie Holiday at Culburra Beach NSW

Master Teal'c — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:23:53 +0000

My family and I had a short holiday down south… Culburra beach is approximately a 3 hour drive away from Sydney and more than just beautiful if you want to escape the big city. (here is the google maps link) My dad found, as usual, a beautiful holiday house right next to the beach where I could stay as well. It was a very dog friendly place – with doggie houses outside but no apparent rules attached to it. The best thing for me was that the family before us was there with a female dog. I tell you – she left a awesome scent behind! It kept me busy for quite a while until we hit the beach… There were no rules there either. Just a very long and very empty beach… We met a couple of dogs, one jogger and 2 other tourists but that was it. So can only recommend going there, probably off season. My guess is that it is a lot more busy during the holidays and weekends. But heh – busy in Australia is not exactly “busy” to other countries standards…

The best for my daddy was that the whole house was “automated” little touch screen were there to turn pretty much everything on or off… Hours of entertainment for him as well. Oh – and the BOSE sound system throughout the house! Here is the Link to the place. Luxury executive beach house in CULBURRA BEACH, NSW

the view from the terrace

oh boy - so much playing!!

our holiday house

yeah - bring it on!

ALL MINE!

me with my happiest doggie grin

huge beach - just us!